1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to anti-incontinence devices, and in particular to a male incontinence containment device.
2. Background of the Invention
Urinary incontinence presents a major problem in human beings, afflicting some twenty-five million individuals in the United States alone. Of these, around eight million are male.
The problem can stem from a number of causes, including nervous system diseases such as Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, and Alzheimer's disease. Bladder spasms causing incontinence can occur in the aftermath of strokes. Long-term diabetes can produce nerve damage, which in turn may affect control of the bladder. Head or spinal injury can short-circuit brain and nerve functions that control the urinary tract, and interrupt the neuro-signals required for proper control.
Prostate problems can overflow into the urinary tract area, and this syndrome affects significant numbers of men. Overflow incontinence occurs when the urethra is under pressure by some sort of obstruction. In this situation, the bladder fills to the point of overflow, and then dribbles throughout the day. Male overflow incontinence is almost always caused by an enlarged prostate gland which puts pressure on the urethra. Prostate enlargement can be caused by cancer, prostatitis, or simply by natural aging.
Urinary incontinence can also be caused by stress, such as surgery. Prostate surgery may involve removal of the prostate gland, and is called radical prostatectomy. When present, the prostate gland helps the urethral sphincter in its function by supporting the bladder neck. If the prostate is removed, it is no longer available to provide this assistance, and consequently temporary post-operation urinary incontinence is symptomatic in some ninety percent of men who have had a radical prostatectomy. Fifteen to twenty percent of these will continue to experience ongoing problems with urinary incontinence.
Accordingly, it is a pressing problem to provide some means of absorption for the urine which results from male urinary incontinence, be it temporary or chronic.
Most urinary absorptive pads are designed for the female anatomy, which is much more amenable to this type of device. In men, however, urine ordinarily emerges from the tip of the penis, which tends to move around during the course of the day (and during the course of the night too, for that matter), thus presenting a “moving target”. Complicating the matter is that urinary tract infection is rendered more probable if the tip of the penis is in contact with urine, or with an absorptive pad which is wet with urine.
Thus it would be desirable to provide a means of holding an absorptive pad in a position to catch urine when it emerges from the penis tip, yet at the same time also hold the absorptive pad out of contact with the penis tip in order to help avoid urethral tract infection. In addition, it would be advantageous to provide means to quickly and easily remove the device from the penis after use.
In addition, it would be desirable to provide means to quickly and easily replace a soiled absorptive pad with a fresh one, without removing the rest of the male incontinence containment from a penis from which it depends.
Existing Designs
A number of patents have issued for male urinary anti-incontinence devices, but these suffer from a number of problems. U.S. Pat. No. 7,727,206 was granted to Gorres for an internal catheter. Insertion and removal of this device required specialized knowledge, and there was certain risk associated with its use. The patient generally could not self-administer this device.
Several patents for external catheters have been issued: U.S. Pat. No. 6,620,142 to Flückiger; U.S. Pat. No. 7,780,642 to Rasmussen et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,797,890 to Goulter et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,662,631 to Marx; U.S. Pat. No. 5,499,977 to Marx; U.S. Pat. No. 4,790,835 to Elias; U.S. Pat. No. 4,239,044 to Pavlinch; U.S. Pat. No. 3,511,241 Lee; U.S. Pat. No. 3,353,538 to Carrigan; U.S. Pat. No. 2,699,781 to Koch; U.S. Pat. No. 1,105,488 to Clare; and U.S. Pat. No. D589,610 to Dubose, Jr. In addition, currently pending is U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2006/0004332 filed by Marx. The devices taught by these documents were complex and therefore expensive; some were made of rigid components and may therefore have been uncomfortable, and many taught no absorptive pad to absorb unwanted urine. Where an absorptive pad was disclosed, it frequently allowed the urine-soaked absorptive pad to remain in contact with the tip of the penis where the urethra exits the penis, thus increasing the risk of urinary tract infection. In addition, the retention means taught by these devices frequently relied on circumferential straps which applied pressure to the penis, which could be uncomfortable and unyielding.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,586,674 was granted to Lönne for a prophylactic device. While the Lönne prophylactic taught a crisscross pattern of external diagonally-disposed ribs encircling a portion of its outer surface, these were disclosed as being zones of less tension for sperm collection, and did not function to keep the prophylactic retained in place on the user's penis. No absorptive pad was taught.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,430,755 was granted to Smith for a bodily waste collector which incorporated a plastic film material tear line to convert the device from male to female use and to collect feces. No tear line was disclosed to facilitate removal of the Smith device from the wearer's penis. In addition, the Smith device allowed the urine-soaked absorptive pad to remain in contact with the tip of the penis where the urethra exits the penis, thus increasing the risk of urinary tract infection.